NCAA Football North Carolina

Sometimes seemingly insignificant stories reveal hidden gems. Normally while trolling for stories I scroll right past a headline like this - Durham: Meet Butch Davis' Assistants.

Foolish indeed is the man that doesn't turn over a few rocks every now and then. Look at what was underneath.

Butch Davis was John Blake's biology teacher in high school.

No way.

I mean, Butch Davis looks young and John Blake has been around college football seemingly forever. Yet Blake is the younger of the two. Weird.

The unanswered question: what grade did Davis give Blake?

Video below: Billy Madison. "Chlorophyll? More like BORE-o-phyll!" Somehow I have the feeling Blake was a little more respectful to his teachers.

With just 90 days separating us from the opening week of the season it's time to start looking ahead. Toward that end the FanHouse NCAA football crew is bringing you the games you won't want to miss during the first week of the college football season.

When the ACC expanded, one of the keystones to the new TV deal was a guaranteed blockbuster on Labor Day night. The game was supposed to be the Miami-Florida State matchup. But down cycles for the two programs and some sloppy play have killed any juice the game had. In the three years as conference foes, the most memorable moment was the introduction of Jenn Sterger. In a hope to give the matchup new life, the ACC has moved it away from the Labor Day spotlight. But this is still the ACC, they aren't going to let a prime TV spot go unused. So, Miami's out and Clemson's in.

Bowden Bowl 2007 won't be a great matchup but will generate excitement. Outside of the father-son rivalry and the general interest when two marquee programs meet, the game will have some other storylines. Will the new Florida State staff make the offense explosive again? Will Clemson's raw line and green QB hinder the best backfield in college football? More importantly from a BCS picture, the winner will have a huge step up in the ACC Atlantic race, while the loser will have to regroup.

The ACC Championship game is up for grabs and another player is stepping up. Baltimore might not seem like the most obvious or desirable choice to anyone who has watched The Wire but the city does have a few things going for it. M&T Bank offers a perfect setting and is actually closer to the majority of the ACC than leading candidates Jacksonville and Tampa. However, Baltimore cannot offer much in the weather department. A game held the first week in December has a chance to be clear and brisk, but in reality will probably be very cold and wet. If the ACC is going to take a chance on weather, they will do it in their own backyard of Charlotte. As much as the conference wants to pretend tickets sales and geography are the most important factors in their decision, the winning bid will likely come down to money. If the city officials pony up enough cash we could see the ACC Champion in Charm City.

Previously at the Fanhouse

Tampa makes play for ACC Championship

Rankings are great offseason fillers. The Sporting News has spent a considerable amount of time the past few weeks making lists of the best coaches in college football. Their highly subjective efforts generated plenty of deserved criticism, but did raise an interesting question when related to their ACC rankings, what is more impressive: winning at Wake Forest or at a traditional ACC power? If you just went by wins Bobby Bowden is at the top of every chart. But his record is also a product of longevity and finding the right situation. Would Jim Grobe win at Florida State? We'll probably never know. But everyone agrees that winning at FSU is different than winning at a place like Duke. Without the forced parity designs of the NFL, much of the foundation for success of a college football program (tradition, local talent, facilities) is based on things outside of a coach's control.

If a school's legacy is the primary factor for future success than perhaps the best way to rank a coach is by how he performed in relation to his school's history.

Before the claws come out, let me acknowledge the flaws in this argument.

A week after Ryan Glasper accused Tom O'Brien of rushing him back from injury and breaking a promise of a medical redshirt on Sirius radio and in some local papers, ESPN finally got around to covering the story. While Page 2 shed some light on the player's gripe, I question why the worldwide leader in sports couldn't get one quote from Tom O'Brien. When the leader in sports calls most coaches have to answer and if they don't ESPN usually uses their powerful platform to shame the coach into saying something. The cynic in me wonders if O'Brien felt comfortable ignoring the story knowing it would blow over because his oldest daughter is an ESPN employee. To make the potential conflict of interest even more unflattering, according to this 2006 press release the younger O'Brien was at one point an associate producer on ESPN's college football coverage! Seems like she would know how hot this story might get in Bristol.

Now you can question how much attention this story deserves. While Glasper is a good kid, even before the injury he was not a lock to play in the NFL. Yet usually when a player speaks up about anything controversial ESPN gladly plugs the story into their sport news cycle and goes. The ESPN networks need content and stories like this are perfect fodder for their series of talking head shows and SportsCenter. Yet no mention of this anywhere outside of Alan Grant's article (and it should be noted that Grant is not a fulltime ESPN employee). Did ESPN bury this story because of the O'Briens?

Although places like the Fanhouse are making waves, ESPN still has the most influence in the national sports coverage and dialogue. Maybe the new ombudsman should clarify how conflicts of interest with family members are resolved in Bristol.

It's probably best not to read too much into the Spring Game; just look for signs of life and pray that no one gets carted off. With that in mind, after Saturday, UNC has reasons to be somewhat enthusiastic about their QB situation, as long as they realize that they performed well against the Tar Heel defense, which isn't exactly the most fearsome in the state, let alone the ACC.

Still, things were looking so shaky approaching this season that the returning starter figured if he wanted to help his team out as much as possible, he'd move to an entirely different position. Though super-recruit Mike Paulus figures to be in the mix, redshirt freshmen T.J. Yates and B.J. Phillips put up some nice stats, and Cameron Sexton completed all five of his passes. Yates threw three TD's, including ones to deposed QB Joe Dailey, and another to running back Richie Rich, who threw some D's on the Heels with a 32-yard scamper. Conor Barth is seemingly among the few ACC kickers that's been having a good spring as well, as he was perfect on three attempts. All in all, it had to be considered a great day in Chapel Hill, especially considering many of their most talented players (Marvin Austin, Paulus, Greg Little) could still be in Carolina blue at the end of the decade.

When John Swofford decided to expand the ACC, he caused quite a stir. Old time Tobacco Road fans bemoaned the loss of tradition. Commentators called it a money grab soiling the image of college sports and the Big East lawyered up and sued to protect their fledgling BCS status. In the end not everyone is happy...but everyone in the ACC is rich. The new league generated more money than ever this past year. Original members got nice increases. Boston College (who were rejected in the process, then accepted later and only get a partial revenue share at first) exceeded what they would have made in the Big East by more than $1 million.

The big winner – Virginia Tech. Tech, not initially part of the expansion plans, got in under political maneuvering. The Hokies are fat and happy as they avoided legal wrangling, got a lot more money, and are playing in a much more geographically and academically desirable conference.

The biggest loser in the process? Ironically, the Miami Hurricanes. The 'Canes and their football dynasty were the lynch pin of the expansion. Not only have they seen their team struggle, but the move from the weighted Big East distribution plan to the ACC's even split actually reduced Miami's football revenue.

I'm amazed any of us ever go to the dentist at all. Between the waiting, the poking, the prodding, the Highlights magazine (okay, that's a perk) and the fact that you stand little chance of getting those sweet, sweet pain pills oral surgeons dispense like Pez, one is tempted to take their chances with plaque and the gum disease known as gingivitis.

After today, I'm sure Butch Davis can convince the most stubborn anti-dentites to maybe give it another shot. It became known that during a routine visit in Cleveland, Davis' dentist found a cancerous growth in his mouth that was later removed. Davis is currently undergoing chemotherapy as a health precaution, although there's no evidence that the cancer has spread. He appeared to be optimistic about his future with the Tar Heels:

"Honestly, I am fine," he said. "I want the focus of this spring to be about this team. I have every intention of being the coach here for a long time and after we talk about it today, then I really don't want to talk about it any more."

Though it's easy to make light of what is seemingly the first bit of bad news for the UNC program since Davis signed on, Fanhouse's prayers are with him and his family. And if nothing else, non-Hodgkins lymphoma is certainly a more worthy opponent than anyone John Bunting bested last year. I'm looking in your direction, Furman, NC State and Duke.

It wasn't supposed to be this way for Barrington Edwards. A running back built like a brick hithouse (to quote "The Simpsons"), the Bowie, MD. native transferred to UNC from Louisiana State with the promise of giving the Tar Heels their first real ground threat since...well, they did have Willie Parker at one point, but you'd be forgiven for not noticing (they didn't either).

It never came to be for Edwards, who spent two years struggling to establish himself, averaging no more than 3.6 ypc per season and unable to supplant unspectacular incumbent Ronnie McGill. It's likely that his last chance has come and gone; as of this past weekend, Edwards has been suspended indefinitely from the UNC football squad for the timeless "undisclosed violation of team rules." He'll miss spring practice, but on the bright side (relatively), he'll remain on scholarship for the rest of the semester.